MUSONIUS RUFUS and the NEW TESTAMENT a Contribution to The
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MUSONIUS RUFUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT A Contribution to the Corpus Hellenisticum BY P. W. VAN DER HORST Utrecht INTRODUCTION This is the second contribution to a series of articles which present parallels between the minor classical authors and the New Testament. The first article dealt with Macrobius and the New Testament (see Novitm Testamentiim 15 (1973), 220-232), this time we are concerned with Musonius Rufus. Gaius Musonius Rufus was a popular Stoic philosopher and preacher, who lived at Rome in the latter half of the first century A.D. and was, therefore, a contemporary of most of the New Testament authors. He probably did not commit anything to writing himself, but notes of many of his discourses and sayings have been made by his pupil Lucius, whose reports have been preserved for the greater part by Stobaeus. Musonius was banished twice from Rome, first by Nero and then by Vespasian; but Titus recalled him (see K. voN FRITZ, Musonius, RE XVI (1933), 894). Of his many followers, the best known are Epictetus and Dio Chrysostom. He was a typical representative of liberal Stoicism, with its main emphasis on ethics, especially social ethics. It is this primarily ethical concern that made Stoicism very influential in the Roman period; and, therefore, it is not astonishing that traces of these popular ethics are also to be found in the New Testament. In many of these cases Hellenistic Judaism was the intermediary. However, the parallels presented in this article are not restricted to the field of ethics. In accordance with the usual procedure of the Corpus Hellenisticum project, all kinds of parallels have been gathered: e.g., parallels relating to lexicology, stylistics, history- of-religions and also ethics. This is one of the reasons why we have preferred to present these parallels seyiatim (i.e. according to the N.T. sequence of writings, chapters and passages) and not to ar- range them thematically, according to, e.g., ethical subjects. Such 307 a comparison of Musonius' ethical ideas with the New Testament, may be found in the thesis of H. GREEVEN, Das Hauptproblem der Sozialethik in der neueyen Stoa und im Urchristentum, Giitersloh 1935. Moreover, Musonius' ethics are extensively discussed by A. C. VAN GEYTENBEEK, Musonius Rufus and Gyeek Diatyibe, Assen 1963 (who also mentions the older literature). Good text-editions have been composed by O. HENSE, C. Musonii Rufi yeliquiae, Leipzig 1905, and by C. E. LuTZ, Musonius Rufus, "the Roman Socrates", in Yale Classical Studies X, New Haven 1947, pp. 3-147. LuTZ reprints HENSE'S text, but adds a fragment of the XVth discourse which was only found later and published in the Rendel Harris papyri collection in 1936 (this is the text quoted below under Matt. vi 25 f.). The references given here are to the numbers of the discourses and fragments; and also to the pages and lines of both these editions (L = LuTZ; H = HENSE). PARALLELS Matt. v 48: M.R. XVII (io8, II-i6L; 90, 8-iq.H) &cr7tep ouv 6 6so5 8va 7COCPOUG'LMVTouTCw CiPS'7CaV 8s 7tÀe:ove1;[lXç XXLTo exsivou Tov ?QpM7TO\' oTav xlX't"œcpussv, exsw. Matt. vi 25 f.: M.R. XV (98, I7-27L; not in HENSE) v? Anx, (sc. 6 7tOM7tIXLÇ av w xai &7tOp¿;), - XeX'7-?'rOCL8E [LOL7toÀÀœ TExva, Tc60ev av lXù't"œ8pé?IXL[LL x18cv 't"œ [LLXpœ<a5<a lpv181a, sou ai Xe:ÀLa6Ve:Çxod xai xopu8oi XKLx6crcrUCPOL 1'péCPOUcrL -ro6q veortouq ro6q 7tS:pLwv xal aeyec &' 6pviq &7t?crL veoa6o?ac 7tpO- CPEP'Y?TOC6 STCSLxc xaxiiq &' &pa ol 7tÉÀeLa4Ig (Il. IX 323 f.). 7C0'CEPOY6uVEa'E6 'tœ 't"IXÜ1'1XTOU <X'v6pM7tOU7tp01'Epe:?; &ÀÀ' 06X d 8e, xav vaxua, 7toÀÙ TOUTOI«ov. Tc 8 ; &7tO't"We:1'IXLxai (puXocctTSt Here the papyrus is broken off. See on this text (compared with Matt. vi 25 f.) M. POHLENZ, Die Stoa I (1970*) 401 and II (19724) 195. Matt. x 28: M.R. XX (126, 15 f. L; 113, 6-8H) To yiv Yap voaz7Lv [L6vov ?M7t't"e:LTo TO 8e 1'pucpiXv aLlXcp8e[pS:L, xai Matt. xv 6 (Rom. vii 22, 25; viii 7 v6yoq ToG 8s:oü): M.R. XVI (104, 35 f. L; 87, 6 f. H) aya8ov aivav xsasuev Tov &.v8pCJ)7tov6 v6yoq 6 To5 .